Moments of Happiness
by androidilenya
Summary: Life... what does that mean? Does it mean just surviving? Maybe life isn't just about survival. Maybe it means being happy. Stealing those few moments of happiness when you can, wherever you can. Oneshot. Thresh/Foxface. Written on a challenge by catnip22. Complete.


**Written on a challenge by catnip22. Posted on 12/12/12~ and I know I have exams but this was mostly written anyways... and I'd rather write than study...**

**Pairing: Thresh/Foxface (Ivy) -(suggested by catnip22, who's probably forgotten about this challenge anyways)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, the Hunger Games belong to Suzanne Collins.**

* * *

Sixty seconds. One minute. The margin between life and death was that slim.

Her feet scuffed the golden plate, eager to be off- though, of course, leaving early would be fatal. Up ahead, tantalizingly close, the golden Cornucopia gleamed in the sunlight, gifts spilling temptingly from its mouth. But she knew better than to run for any of that stuff, because no matter how fast she ran, the Careers would get there first. And then they'd kill her.

She didn't want to die.

Sure, it was doubtful that anyone here did. But this was the Hunger Games, so there could only be one winner. One survivor. And she wanted to do everything in her power to make that person _her_.

People have told her that she resembled a fox. Not as in 'foxy', as in sexy (she'd been told she was anything but), but as in she _resembled_ a fox. She looked like one. She could sneak around like one. Strategize. So maybe this would be when she got to use that to her advantage- outfox the others, as it were. Win this thing.

And she wanted to win. Because, as she stated earlier, she _didn't want to die_.

Thirty seconds left. And then it would all start- the killing, the blood, the fight to survive, to be the last one standing. To be the only person who got to go home, though no one ever _really_ left the arena.

She had no delusions about herself. She knew that the chances of her winning were about as much as those of that little girl from District Eleven that was on the plate next to her. No one expected a twelve-year-old like that to win, just as no one expected a weakling from District Five like her to win.

So she just had to prove them wrong, right?

Then the gong went off and she was sprinting, feet pounding in the dust. She wasn't running towards the cornucopia, towards the supplies that could save her life. She was going in the opposite direction, into the forest, because there was no way she could survive that bloodbath.

Her foot had just landed on the soft forest floor when a scream from behind her made her turn. She knew it was stupid, knew it could get her killed, but she just had to see. Some morbid urge to see _death_, to see someone die in real life and not on a television screen, prompted her to look.

It was that tall boy from Eleven. His sword was buried in the throat of the boy from District Seven, blood spurting from the doomed boy onto the dark skin of Eleven- she was fairly sure that his name was Thresh. The killer, not the victim.

Even as she watched, Thresh wrenched his sword out, shoving the tiny boy back against the golden horn. He turned and jogged away from the Cornucopia- straight towards her.

_Yeah... maybe now would be a great time to run._

She darted into the trees, footsteps muffled by the soft ground and fallen leaves.

* * *

About an hour later, the booms of the cannons reached her ears. She counted- there were eleven. There was the District Seven boy that Thresh had killed, of course, but other than that she had no idea who was still alive. That girl from District Twelve, the one who had made such a big impression on everyone, with her chariot outfit on fire and training score of eleven- had she escaped the Careers? Despite the fact that her survival would mean one more adversary to beat, she found herself hoping that the Girl on Fire had made it out safely.

Now to more immediate concerns, namely water and food. As a consequence of her escape from the bloodbath, she had nothing- no weapons, no supplies, no water. She'd thought about this already, of course, since she had never planned to fight in the initial battle.

The logical thing to do would be to find another Tribute, preferably an alliance of two or more, and shadow them. Watch them. And when the moment was right, swoop in and steal their food. Her mentor had suggested killing them in their sleep, but she wasn't sure she could ever actually use her hands to erase a human being's life. So she was left with the slightly risky plan of raiding others to survive.

That being said, she first had to _find_ those other Tributes before she could steal their food.

She wasn't dumb enough to try for the Careers, at least not yet- at this early stage of the Games they would be hyper-vigilant and eager to kill, a mixture that spelled certain death for anyone they encountered.

Brushing her pale red hair out of her face, she set off in the general direction that she had seen Thresh going. He was the only one that she knew for sure had supplies besides the Careers, and it would be easier to sneak past one Tribute than a whole bunch. And had she been totally honest with herself, there was also a part of her that wanted to see the District Eleven boy again.

* * *

Night was falling, a slight chill entering the air. She knew she would be in trouble if she didn't find some sort of shelter _very soon_. Right now she was crouched at the edge of a field of what looked like grain, the soft golden stalks waving slightly in the wind, making a sinuous swishing noise that reminded her of falling water. It made sense that someone from the District that was in charge of agriculture would hide here.

She could see Thresh's campsite through the grain, but of the dark-skinned Tribute there was no sign. There wasn't really anywhere else he could've gone, though she supposed he could be father into the field. But his backpack was _right there_. A few steps away. And there was definitely food in there, too- something she _really _needed.

She darted forward, the stalks of grain rasping against her clothing. She reached forward, glancing around- she didn't see him... yet.

Her hand was on the strap of the bag when a crunch behind her made her freeze. Thresh was back.

_Oh, crap. Oh, crap. I'm gonna die._

She turned to run, but her foot caught on a fallen branch, sending her tumbling to the ground. Hands digging into the soft dirt, she struggled to her feet, desperation making her breath speed up. Then his hand landed on her shoulder and she froze.

_Is this where I die? Before the first day is even over, before I even have a chance at the top spot?_

She spun, fear making her heartbeat spike. His golden-brown eyes met hers as he raised his blade, and she shrank back, terrified but unable to escape his crushing grip on her shoulder. Her mind spun, trying to find a way out.

Frantic, she looked up at him, the words spilling from her mouth before she could really think them through. "Do you really think you ought to kill me?"

"What do you mean?" He paused, lowering his sword slightly, dark brow creased with confusion.

"Let me stay with you. You know... ally." Tricking him into an alliance was the only way she could get out of this alive. She could get away him later, if he trusted her enough to let his guard down.

"I work alone."

"You don't have to. Two people are stronger than one, right? I could... I don't know, keep watch so the Careers don't sneak up on you at night?" It sounded weak, even to her own ears, but she had to keep him from continuing to attack her. And if he agreed to an alliance with her he wouldn't kill her, at least not right now. And that was... rather important.

The other part of that was that she _really_ needed some food. And right now the only way she could get that was by teaming up with someone- the Careers' food was currently inaccessible to her, Thresh knew that she was trying to steal from him and would now be on her guard, and she had no idea where anyone else was and didn't have the time to find them.

"I work alone," he repeated stubbornly.

"Please?" she pressed. He was stalling, that was obvious. A bit more of a push and he'd give in.

He paused, then smiled sightly. "I like your stubbornness, District Five. You have one day to convince me that you're worth it."

"My name's Ivy." She surprised herself again by sticking out her hand to the boy. She was even more surprised when he took it.

"You look more like a fox than a plant. I'm Thresh."

A sudden sound made them both jump, but it was only the Panem anthem, the signal for the evening ritual. During the pause between the end of the music and the beginning of the show, she glanced up at Thresh. His face was expressionless, hard to read in the dim light.

The face of the girl from District Three appeared in the sky, followed by the boy from Four, the boy from Five- her District partner- both from Six and Seven, the boy from Eight, both Tributes from Nine, and the Ten boy. She didn't see any reaction from Thresh at the sight of the District Seven boy's face, the one he'd killed.

_Does he have _any_ emotions at all?_ she wondered, shivering slightly. She wasn't so sure anymore that this alliance was a good idea- but she needed the food.

* * *

The next day was actually very boring. It pretty much consisted of Thresh and her sitting in the grain field, talking about nothing and everything and casting occasional glances up at the sky to see if the sun had moved at all since they had last checked. It was a very _long _day. She had no reason to try to impress Thresh as he had implied she must last night.

He had also taken to calling her 'little fox', no doubt a reference to his reaction to her name. No one had even given her a nickname like that before. It was kind of nice.

The day had ended with the usual anthem and list of the fallen- just the District Eight girl. That must have been the cannon she'd heard just before dawn.

She was fairly sure that Thresh was asleep. The large boy hadn't stirred at all for the past half hour, and his chest was rising and falling with the steady tempo of a sleeping human. If she wanted to escape, the time was now.

She sat up slowly, wincing as the dry grass she was lying on rustled. Thresh didn't move. Heart pounding, she eased towards the edge of the field, crawling at first but soon scrambling to her feet as she escaped the last clinging tendrils of grain. She wasn't far from the forest, just up the slope and-

"Got you." His knife blade pressed against her throat and she gasped, edging away from the cold steel edge.

"Please... I was just trying to get away... _don't kill me_!" All rational thought processes fell away in the face of death.

"Wasn't going to kill you, little fox." He grabbed her wrists gently and spun her around so they faced each other, noses inches apart. His eyes gleamed slightly in the darkness, stark against his dark face. "Why'd you run?"

"I don't... I want to live. I don't want to be here with you."

"Don't you like me?" It took her a few seconds to realize that he was joking, a slight smile turning up the corners of his mouth. She laughed nervously.

"No, no, that's not it..."

"Then what?"

"Just let me go!"

"No." And then he did something totally unexpected- leaned in and firmly planted his lips against hers.

_What. The. Hell._

She pulled back, a blush rising in her cheeks and an unfamiliar heat in her chest. "What was that for?" she snapped, yanking her hand from his grasp. "We aren't supposed to be the star-crossed lovers! That's District Twelve's thing!"

"I didn't want you to leave," he replied simply, a small smile on his face. "Besides. I wanted to see how you'd react."

Well. She had to admit, that had been unexpected. And a bit nice. She'd never kissed a boy before, and it wasn't like she'd get a chance to after this if she didn't win...

_That's right. You have to win. You can't stay here and... and..._

"I... I have to go." She pulled away, face flushed. She hurried off into the grain, towards the forest.

"You can always come back, little fox," Thresh called softly, voice floating through the night air. She pretended she couldn't hear him, just as she pretended that the tears running down her face were from the cold wind stinging her eyes.

* * *

Somehow she survived that night, huddled under a tree, biting her hand to keep her teeth from chattering loudly enough for the Careers to hear. Nothing much happened that night- no cannons, no loud noises anywhere near her. Her grumbling stomach kept her up most of the night.

When dawn lit the eastern sky she found a stream and splashed her face with cold water. Gazing at her reflection, she wondered what Thresh saw in those enigmatic green eyes. She didn't even really understand herself. So why...?

_You can always come back, little fox._

She shook her head, trying to get his voice out of her mind. Why now, of all times? The arena was literally the most inconvenient place to fall in love.

Not that she was in love. No. Not at all.

_You can always come back._

She couldn't go back. Not now.

_Always._

Fine. Maybe she could sneak back. But just to get some food- she was pretty damn hungry. She wasn't going to go back just to see Thresh or anything. Nope.

* * *

He wasn't there.

She sighed, partly relieved and partly disappointed. He wasn't there, so he couldn't catch her stealing food from him. He wasn't here, so she couldn't see him.

"Little fox. Knew you'd come back." His arms wrapped around her from behind and she let out a little squeak of terror, feeling the terrible strength in those arms. He could crush her if he wanted to.

"I-I'm not back," she protested. "It's not part of my strategy. Having allies, I mean."

"What is your strategy, then?" He sounded honestly interested, and seeing as he was pinning her arms to her side she had no choice but to respond.

"To win."

"And to do that you distance yourself from others?"

"Isn't that the logical thing to do?" Her voice broke a little on the last word.

"Logic. What does that mean when life is in danger?" He let go of her and stepped back. "Run if you wish, little fox."

She stood very still, staring into his golden brown eyes.

"Are you not running?"

She couldn't respond.

He seemed satisfied. "So it's not all logic for you."

The District Eleven boy was surprisingly smart, she decided. He was certainly not the big dumb brute that he could be mistaken for on first glance. He had a strong if elementary grasp on the fundamental principles of life. Something about that was irresistible, and she found the words spilling from her lips before she could quite think them over.

"Life... what does that mean?" She looked into his eyes. "Does it mean just surviving? I don't want it if that's the case. Maybe life isn't just about survival. Maybe it means being happy. Stealing those few moments of happiness when you can, wherever you can." She paused, surprised that such emotional words had come from her mouth.

Thresh looked amused.

"I mean, as long as I still win... I'll be happy for now. But I've not lost sight of victory," she added quickly, aware that a flustered blush was rising in her cheeks.

"I did not think you ever would." He smiled at her and it occurred to her that during training, she had never seen him break that stone mask he wore.

She let him kiss her again, this time closing her eyes and relaxing against him. The second was even better than the first.

_And happiness is even stronger, life even brighter, when you know it will end sooner rather than later. So for now, let's be happy. That's all. Take this moment and be happy.  
_

_In the end, that's fairly logical. _

* * *

**Ehehe~**

**Hope you enjoyed. Review please.**


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